Friday, February 20, 2009

biscuits for our tea

To go with our nice cup of tea or coffee, I'd love to share these currant biscuits with you. We've made three batches in the last week and each time they disappear faster than you'd believe. I made up the first batch last week for my daughter's nursery school. Twenty discriminating little palates all agreed: delicious! Older children and adults can't leave them alone either. They are amazingly simple, that's why I'm so surprised by their popularity. Of course I had to write down the recipe for you. I believe it's quite forgiving, since I've changed it slightly each time and haven't been disappointed once. A food processor makes these an easy "whip up".
Currant Biscuits
tea time...snack time... any time!

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup of currants
1 cup of vanilla yogurt


Make
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Mix all the dry ingredients and butter in a food processor until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Add currants and mix for 5 seconds. Add yogurt and mix just until it's all incorporated. Lightly flour your counter and turn the dough out onto it. Pat into a circle ... sprinkle a little flour on top of dough to prevent sticking and roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut in shapes and place on an un-greased sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Here are some way to vary this recipe:
-add other kinds of dried fruit
-add zest of orange or lemon
-add more sugar for a sweeter version
-use plain yogurt, but add a teaspoon of vanilla
-try other kinds of flours
Here's what not to change (just my opinion):
-amount of soda and baking powder
-ratio of flour to yogurt and butter

I'll be back next week with a more regular posting schedule and a shop update for Friday the 27th. Have a beautiful weekend, friends!

A new addition to this post: recipe translated into Spanish thanks to lovely Julie Alvarez! Please check here.
Pin It

21 comments:

  1. oooooh these biscuits look so delicious, mmmm .... will write down the recipe & will let you know when I'll bake it ! :) Have a great weekend too !! sending big hugs oxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those sound wonderful - thank you for sharing the recipe. I'll have to try them out sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yippy, no eggs in the mix, I'm always looking for eggless recipies for baking goods because I have a badly allergic girl. I'll try this one, it looks delicious.
    Thanks for sharing, not everybody shares his/hers recipies so openly...I think...

    ReplyDelete
  4. YUmmy! they sound so good! I will have to try those

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hooray! I was hoping for this recipe when you posted the picture of the heart shaped ones. I will add this to my "to bake" list and then probably to the "must make again" list. Happy weekend! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. These biscuits look delicious! I need to try them...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those are lovely! We'll definitely have to serve them at our next tea party. Baby sea turtle, Bun-bun, and Ruby Fairy will love them so!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You have absolutely fantastic blog! This was my very first time here and I'll come back.
    Have a nice weekend!

    Piia from Finland

    ReplyDelete
  9. yum those biscuits look delicious! your blog is so adorable, love the heart garland!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Would this recipe work if I use fat free vanilla yogurt? It sounds delicious. I am not a great baker, so I thought I should check with you first:)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Susan: go for the nonfat vanilla! I made these with lowfat, don't think that there would be much of a difference. Good luck and happy baking... I love to hear about new bakers jumping in!

    ReplyDelete
  12. These look great! And just like Paloma, I was glad to see they don't have eggs, as one of my girls too has an egg-allergy. So I definitely need to try these! In case anyone is interested in egg-free baking recipes, I posted a chocolate chip cookies recipe on my blog about a week ago...

    ReplyDelete
  13. made these today. used plain yogurt and vanilla extract. had to use regular flour b/c ran out of wheat flour. they were yummy!!! thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Maya,
    I was planning on posting this recipe in spanish on my blog, is that OK with you?
    Also, could I show your picture, crediting everything to you, of course?
    Let me know.
    Kiss,
    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  15. i just made these!! they were easy to make and turned out well (i'm not a baker...). i used a half cup of sugar for added sweetness, raisins and walnuts and a smashed banana (next time i would use two or three for more flavor). i don't have a good processor or a rolling pin so i just mixed with my hands and scooped spoonfuls onto baking trays. er, reused aluminum pie tins because we don't have baking trays eithier hah! i really want to try them with chocolate chips, and a seperate batch with lemon zest. these are great for the rainy days we've been having in oakland. thanks maya for the awesome recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I made these the other night and my 6 year old kept saying, "These are the BEST biscuits!" I did make one goof though. I halved the recipe...but forgot to cut the butter in half! Still delicious. Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I guess this is a goofy question, but I have never seen currants at my local grocery stores. I would guess they'd be by the raisins etc, right? Do they ever go by a different name? These look/sound so good I am dying to try them, and I see you've posted variations. But I really want to try the currants! Any tips?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Adrienne~ I wish I could think of a different name they'd be under. I get them from the bulk section at our local co-op/health food store. I think cranberries might work well, too.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks Maya...I'll just keep my eyes peeled. I haven't checked at the co-op yet, maybe that's where I'll find them. One last question, if I'm not bugging you too much...whole wheat pastry flour. Is this a whole wheat version of cake flour? Any specifics on that? Apparently I have no cool/esoteric ingredients in my neck of the woods. Thanks much. I have been enjoying your blog from afar for a while now and love it when new posts show up in my feed reader. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Adrienne~ you just caught me before I went to sleep... good timing:) Whole wheat pastry flour has is a finer lighter version of regular w.w. I guess like cake four. I love it for all of my baking (except yeasted breads) Health food stores always carry it in bulk. Love to hear if you try the bicuits.

    ReplyDelete